Discover vs Tell - What's the difference?
discover | tell | Related terms |
(obsolete) To remove the cover from; to uncover (a head, building etc.).
To expose, uncover.
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(chess) To create by moving a piece out of another piece's line of attack.
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(archaic) To reveal (information); to divulge, make known.
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*Shakespeare
*:Go, draw aside the curtains, and discover / The several caskets to this noble prince.
*Francis Bacon
*:Prosperity doth best discover' vice; but adversity doth best ' discover virtue.
(obsolete) To reconnoitre, explore (an area).
*, Bk.V, ch.ix:
*:they seyde the same, and were aggreed that Sir Clegis, Sir Claryon, and Sir Clement the noble, that they sholde dyscover the woodys, bothe the dalys and the downys.
To find or learn something for the first time.
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*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (obsolete) To manifest without design; to show; to exhibit.
*C. J. Smith
*:The youth discovered a taste for sculpture.
*1806 , Alexander Hunter, Culina Famulatrix Medicinæ , p.125:
*:The English Cooks keep all their Spices in separate boxes, but the French Cooks make a spicey mixture that does not discover a predominancy of any one of the spices over the others.
(lb) To count, reckon, or enumerate.
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*1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.vii:
*:And in his lap a masse of coyne he told , / And turned vpsidowne, to feede his eye / A couetous desire with his huge threasury.
*1875 , Hugh MacMillan, The Sunday Magazine :
*:Only He who made them can tell the number of the stars, and mark the place of each in the order of the one great dominant spiral.
(lb) To narrate.
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*, chapter=7
, title= (lb) To convey by speech; to say.
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*, chapter=4
, title= (lb) To instruct or inform.
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*Bible, (w) xii. 18
*:Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,
(lb) To order; to direct, to say to someone.
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*(Charles Dickens) (1812-1870)
*:He told her not to be frightened.
*'>citation
*:Stability was restored, but once the re-entry propulsion was activated, the crew was told to prepare to come home before the end of their only day in orbit.
(lb) To discern, notice, identify or distinguish.
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*:Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.
(lb) To reveal.
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(lb) To be revealed.
*1990 , (Stephen Coonts), Under Siege, 1991 (Pocket Books) edition, ISBN 0671742949, p.409:
*:Cherry looks old, Mergenthaler told himself. His age is telling . Querulous — that's the word. He's become a whining, querulous old man absorbed with trivialities.
(lb) To have an effect, especially a noticeable one; to be apparent, to be demonstrated.
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*1859 (John Stuart Mill), (On Liberty)
*:Opinion ought [… to give] merited honour to every one, whatever opinion he may holdkeeping nothing back which tells', or can be supposed to ' tell , in their favour.
*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 18, author=Ben Dirs, work=BBC Sport
, title= A reflexive, often habitual behavior, (especially) one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold.
That which is told; tale; account.
* Walpole
(internet) A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper.
(archaeology) A mound, originally in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.
Discover is a related term of tell.
As a proper noun discover
is (us) , a brand of credit card.As a verb tell is
(lb) to count, reckon, or enumerate.As a noun tell is
a reflexive, often habitual behavior, (especially) one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold or tell can be (archaeology) a mound, originally in the middle east, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.discover
English
Alternative forms
* discovre (obsolete)Verb
(en verb)Can China clean up fast enough?, passage=All this has led to an explosion of protest across China, including among a middle class that has discovered nimbyism.}}
Synonyms
* (expose something previously covered) expose, reveal, uncover * (find something for the first time) come across, findAntonyms
* (expose something previously covered) conceal, cover, cover up, hideDerived terms
* discovery * discovered attack * discovered checkSee also
* invent * detect * find * stumble uponAnagrams
* * 1000 English basic wordstell
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) ((etyl) telja). More at tale.Verb
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=“
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.}}
Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia, passage=But England's superior fitness told in the second half, with Delon Armitage, Manu Tuilagi and Chris Ashton (two) going over for tries to secure a bonus-point win.}}
Synonyms
* (enumerate) count * (narrate) narrate, recount, relateAntonyms
* (to instruct or inform) askDerived terms
* all told * tell against * tell all * tell-all * tell off * tell on * tell-tale / telltale * tell tales * tell tales out of school * tellerNoun
(en noun)- I am at the end of my tell .